Are you welcome in Russia ?

Are you welcome in Russia? Russia promises hospitality to FIFA world cup guests – but not everybody is welcome in this country today. ADC Memorial answers a few question before the World Cup begining. Read the original version here.

Would you like to walk in the centre of Moscow or go sight-seeing in St. Petersburg?

On 5 May 2018 more than 1,500 persons (700 of them in Moscow, more than 200 in St. Petersburg) were attacked, beaten and arrested in the cities of Russia just for being there, when the opposition protested against the 4th term of Mr. Putin’s never-ending presidency.

Do you value all people, regardless their ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation?

Women in Russia are not allowed to be employed in 465 different occupations and jobs; there is no adequate law criminalising domestic violence, no law on gender equality, while most of women are not paid the same as men, are not active in politics, have no tools to oppose discrimination in private and public life.
On 1 May LGBTI activists were arrested for displaying rainbow banners in a public demonstration. Dozens of persons have been convicted in the last 5 years for “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” (forbidden since 2013 by law of the Russian Federation)
Jehovah’s Witnesses organisationswere banned and many of them are sent to prison just because of their beliefs. Last case in Vladivostok - people were filmed by FSB secret camera while praying, the criminal case was opened against (among others) 83 years old lady.
After the annexation of Crimea, Crimean Tatars suffer from multiple forms of discrimination because of their ethnicity, religion, citizenship (many of them do not want to give up their Ukrainian passports) and identity of the Crimean aboriginals.
Racism and intolerance are constant threats to those who look different than ethnic Russians – hundreds of serious hate crimes have been recorded in Russia against Asians, Africans, Roma and others.

Do you reject torture and inhumane treatment?

Young critically minded people were arrested in 2018 in Penza, St. Petersburg and Moscow. They were accused of planning a revolution and were heavily tortured. Human Rights defenders who raised their voices against torture and political persecution were humiliated in the state-controlled media. All independent Human rights organizations in Russia are labeled “foreign agents” and face repression. Many had to close their operations or to leave the country.
In the detention centers for foreigners in Russia thousands of migrants spend many months (sometimes years) in inhumane conditions. More than a hundred thousand stateless persons living in Russia are at risk of unlimited detention for no reason other than their lack of citizenship of any country.

"Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial adcmemorial.org is a Human Rights organization, working in Russia and other Easter European and Central Asian countries (since 2014 Russian legal entity has been closed following the repressive state action against the NGO, ADC Memorial works from exile since then). ADC "Memorial" provides legal defense in courts to victims of discrimination, migrants and stateless persons, kept in detention centers for foreign nationals; publishes Human Rights reports; runs campaign against the discriminatory "list of professions banned for women"